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[29]

It is quite irrational to suppose that he could be accurately acquainted with Egyptian Thebes,1 which is separated
from our sea2 by a little less than 50003 stadia; and yet ignorant of' the recess of the Arabian Gulf, and of the isthmus
there, whose breadth is not more than 1000 stadia. Still
more, would it not be ridiculous to believe that Homer was
aware the Nile was called by the same name as the vast country
[of Egypt], and yet unacquainted with the reason why?
especially since the saying of Herodotus would occur to him,
that the country was a gift from the river, and it ought there-
fore to bear its name. Further, the best known peculiarities
of a country are those which have something of the nature of
a paradox, and are likely to arrest general attention. Of this
kind are the rising of the Nile, and the alluvial deposition at its mouth. There is nothing in the whole country to
which travellers in Egypt so immediately direct their inquiries,
as the character of the Nile; nor do the inhabitants possess
any thing else equally wonderful and curious, of which to inform foreigners; for in fact, to give them a description of the
river, is to lay open to their view every main characteristic of
the country. It is the question put before every other by
those who have never seen Egypt themselves. To these considerations we must add Homer's thirst after knowledge, and
his delight in visiting foreign lands, (tastes which we are assured both by those who have written histories of his life, and
also by innumerable testimonies throughout his own poems,
he possessed in an eminent degree,) and we shall have abundant evidence both of the extent of his information, and the
felicity with which he described objects he deemed important,
and passed over altogether, or with slight allusion, matters
which were generally known.

1 Aristotle accounts for Homer's mentioning Thebes rather than Memphis, by saying that, at the time of the poet, the formation of that part of
Egypt by alluvial deposit was very recent. So that Memphis either did
no then exist, or at all events had not then obtained its after celebrity.
Aristotle likewise seems to say that anciently Egypt consisted only of the
territory of the Thebaid, καὶτὸἀοͅχαῖονἡαἴυπτος, θῆβαικαλούμεναι.

3 Gosselin says, ‘Read 4000, as in lib. xvii. This correction is indicated by the following measure given by Herodotus:

From the sea to Heliopolis

1500 stadia

From Heliopolis to Thebes

4860

——

6360

The stadium made use of in Egypt at the time of Herodotus consisted of
1111 1/9 to a degree on the grand circle, as may be seen by comparing the
measure of the coasts of the Delta furnished by that historian with our
actual information. The length of this stadium may likewise be ascertained by reference to Aristotle. In the time of Eratosthenes and Strabo,
the stadium of 700 to a degree was employed in Egypt. Now 6360 stadia of 1111 1/9 to a degree make just 4006 stadia of 700: consequently
these two measures are identical, their apparent inconsistency merely resulting from the different scales by which preceding authors had expressed
them.’ This reasoning seems very plausible, but we must remark that
Col. Leake, in a valuable paper ‘On the Stade as a Linear Measure,’
published in vol. ix. of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, is
of opinion that Gosselin's system of stadia of different lengths cannot be
maintained.

The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.

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